US8277564B2 - Method for removing a hardened photoresist - Google Patents

Method for removing a hardened photoresist Download PDF

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US8277564B2
US8277564B2 US12/561,661 US56166109A US8277564B2 US 8277564 B2 US8277564 B2 US 8277564B2 US 56166109 A US56166109 A US 56166109A US 8277564 B2 US8277564 B2 US 8277564B2
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photoresist
hardened
hardened photoresist
low
layer
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US20100071718A1 (en
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Quoc Toan Le
Els Kesters
Guy Vereecke
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Interuniversitair Microelektronica Centrum vzw IMEC
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Interuniversitair Microelektronica Centrum vzw IMEC
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
    • H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
    • H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
    • H01L21/31—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to form insulating layers thereon, e.g. for masking or by using photolithographic techniques; After treatment of these layers; Selection of materials for these layers
    • H01L21/3105—After-treatment
    • H01L21/311—Etching the insulating layers by chemical or physical means
    • H01L21/31127—Etching organic layers
    • H01L21/31133—Etching organic layers by chemical means
    • H01L21/31138—Etching organic layers by chemical means by dry-etching
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
    • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
    • G03F7/26—Processing photosensitive materials; Apparatus therefor
    • G03F7/42—Stripping or agents therefor
    • G03F7/427—Stripping or agents therefor using plasma means only
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
    • H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
    • H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
    • H01L21/31—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to form insulating layers thereon, e.g. for masking or by using photolithographic techniques; After treatment of these layers; Selection of materials for these layers
    • H01L21/3105—After-treatment
    • H01L21/311—Etching the insulating layers by chemical or physical means
    • H01L21/31127—Etching organic layers
    • H01L21/31133—Etching organic layers by chemical means

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to methods to remove a hardened photoresist, such as plasma etched photoresist film or an ion-implanted photoresist film, from a substrate comprising a porous (low- ⁇ ) dielectric material, preserving the characteristics of the porous (low- ⁇ ) dielectric material.
  • a hardened photoresist such as plasma etched photoresist film or an ion-implanted photoresist film
  • the remaining photoresist (PR) layer after plasma etch (post-etch photoresist or hardened photoresist) is traditionally removed using an oxygen containing plasma process, also known as ashing.
  • Plasma processes and more particularly oxygen containing plasma process are known to induce damage to porous (low- ⁇ ) dielectric materials that are exposed during the photoresist removal, in such an extent that the performance of the semiconductor devices is deteriorated.
  • a challenge is to remove hardened photoresist without damaging (neither chemically, nor structurally) or etching the exposed low- ⁇ materials.
  • This challenge is particularly difficult to meet in single-wafer (SW) processing, required to remove hardened PR in shorter time intervals (e.g., about 1 min, while batch systems take from 10 min to 30 min).
  • SW single-wafer
  • Increasing the concentrations of the chemicals to meet throughput requirements is not a valid solution when low- ⁇ materials are exposed.
  • wet strip chemistries i.e. a mixture of chemical substances (or solution) in the liquid phase, comprising a solvent
  • hardened PR comprises polymers that are not soluble in water.
  • ESH Environmental, Safety & Health
  • the present disclosure provides a method for removing a hardened photoresist layer from a substrate comprising a low- ⁇ dielectric material preserving the characteristics of the low-k dielectric material, the method comprising (or, in an example, consisting of):
  • the steps of breaking the formed C ⁇ C double bonds and removing the fragmented photoresist are performed substantially simultaneously by wet processing in cleaning chemistries comprising ozone.
  • the duration of the exposure to (or contact time with) cleaning chemistries comprising ozone is preferably less than (about) 10 minutes (600 seconds), more preferably less than (about) 5 minutes (300 seconds), even more preferably less than (about) 2 minutes (120 seconds), yet more preferably less than (about) 1 minute (60 seconds).
  • the duration of the exposure to (or contact time with) cleaning chemistries comprising ozone is comprised between (about) 1 second to (about) 600 seconds, more preferably between (about) 30 seconds to (about) 300 seconds, even more preferably between (about) 30 seconds to (about) 120 seconds, yet more preferably between (about) 60 seconds to (about) 120 seconds, most preferably (about) 120 seconds.
  • the amount of O 3 provided with (or O 3 concentration used in) the cleaning chemistries comprising ozone as above-indicated is comprised in the range of (about) 30 ppm to (about) 300 ppm.
  • the UV radiation has a wavelength higher than (about) 260 nm.
  • forming C ⁇ C double bonds in the hardened photoresist and breaking the formed C ⁇ C double bonds are performed substantially simultaneously by supplying oxygen (O 2 ), or ozone (O 3 ) or a mixture of O 3 and O 2 (supplied e.g. from an ozone generator), while exposing the hardened photoresist to UV radiation.
  • oxygen O 2
  • O 3 ozone
  • O 3 a mixture of O 3 and O 2
  • the duration of the UV irradiation is less than (about) 10 minutes (600 seconds), more preferably less than (about) 5 minutes (300 seconds), even more preferably less than (about) 2 minutes (120 seconds), yet more preferably less than (about) 1 minute (60 seconds).
  • the duration of the UV irradiation is comprised between (about) 1 second to (about) 600 seconds, more preferably between (about) 30 seconds to (about) 300 seconds, even more preferably between (about) 30 seconds to (about) 120 seconds, yet more preferably between (about) 60 seconds to (about) 120 seconds, most preferably (about) 120 seconds.
  • the inert atmosphere comprises N 2 , a noble gas, or mixtures thereof.
  • Another aspect of the present disclosure is a method for removing a hardened photoresist layer from a substrate comprising a low- ⁇ dielectric material preserving the characteristics of the low-k dielectric material, the method comprising (or, in an example, consisting of):
  • Another aspect of the present disclosure is a method for removing a hardened photoresist layer from a substrate comprising a low- ⁇ dielectric material preserving the characteristics of the low- ⁇ dielectric material, the method comprising:
  • ozone can be provided during both the UV irradiation (or UV exposure) step and the wet processing step.
  • the cleaning chemistries consist of aqueous(-based) solutions.
  • the aqueous(-based) solutions include de-ionized (DI) water.
  • DI de-ionized
  • the cleaning chemistries include organic solvents or mixtures thereof.
  • the organic solvents are selected from the group consisting of halogenated solvents, propylene carbonate (PC), N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP), and mixtures thereof.
  • the organic solvents are halogenated solvents
  • the organic solvents are preferably fluorinated solvents.
  • the temperature of the cleaning step i.e. wet processing step
  • water as cleaning solution ranges from room temperature to (about) 95° C., more preferably, the temperature of said cleaning step is (about) 60° C.
  • additional rinsing using an organic solvent e.g., isopropylalcohol, propylene carbonate
  • an organic solvent e.g., isopropylalcohol, propylene carbonate
  • the temperature of the cleaning step (i.e. wet processing step) using organic solvents is (about) 5 to 10° C. below the flash point of the organic solvent used.
  • the cleaning chemistries comprise chemical additives such as surfactants, corrosion inhibitors or chelating agents.
  • a method according to the present disclosure comprises performing additional rinsing with de-ionized (DI)-water or organic solvent after removing the fragmented photoresist.
  • DI de-ionized
  • a method according to the present disclosure can be used for the manufacture of an electronic device.
  • the hardened photoresist layer comprises a stack of multiple layers, wherein said multiple layers comprise an antireflective coating layer (ARC), preferably a top antireflective coating (TARC) layer or a bottom antireflective coating (BARC) layer, more preferably a bottom antireflective coating layer.
  • ARC antireflective coating layer
  • TARC top antireflective coating
  • BARC bottom antireflective coating
  • FIG. 1 represents schematically a single damascene stack comprising: a bottom layer of SiO 2 (1) overlying a substrate (not shown), 30 nm etch stop layer SiCN/SiCO (2); 180 nm low- ⁇ material, e.g. BD II® (3); 30 nm metal hard mask, TiN (4); 33 nm BARC layer (5); 150 nm photoresist material (6).
  • FIG. 2 represents the FTIR spectra of pristine (as-deposited, before any exposure to plasma or ion implantation beam) photoresist film as measured before and after UV irradiation (dual wavelength) under N 2 for various exposure times.
  • FIG. 3 represents the FTIR spectra of plasma-treated photoresist film as measured before and after UV irradiation (dual wavelength) under N 2 for various exposure times.
  • FIG. 4 shows the (OH+C ⁇ C)/OH peak ratio measured for photoresist samples after various UV exposure times (dual wavelength) under N 2 .
  • FIG. 5 represents the thickness of pristine and plasma-treated (i.e. hardened) photoresist layer as a function of UV treatment (dual wavelength) under N 2 .
  • FIG. 6 shows the thickness of plasma-treated photoresist layer measured by ellipsometry after UV exposure (dual wavelength) under N 2 and subsequent immersion in NMP at 60° C.
  • FIG. 7 represents the FTIR spectra of plasma-treated (i.e. hardened) photoresist film as measured after UV irradiation with photons with wavelength at 222 nm under N 2 for 1 and 5 min.
  • FIG. 8 shows the thickness of the remaining hardened photoresist for the different samples after the photoresist removal tests summarized in Table 1.
  • FIG. 9 shows the (C ⁇ C+OH)/OH FTIR peak area ratio measured for plasma-treated photoresist samples after various UV exposure times.
  • A reference after etch
  • B after 2 min UV at 254 nm
  • C after 1 min propylene carbonate (PC) rinse and a DIW rinse
  • FIG. 11 shows FTIR spectra of plasma-treated photoresist film as measured before and after 254 nm UV irradiation.
  • FIG. 12 illustrates a method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.
  • FIG. 13 illustrates a method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.
  • FIG. 14 illustrates a method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.
  • Different embodiments of the present specification disclose methods to remove hardened photoresist from a low- ⁇ material without damaging the exposed low- ⁇ material and having the advantage of a higher throughput while being more environmental friendly than the state-of-the-art.
  • SW processing requires removing hardened PR in shorter time intervals, when compared to the batch system processing.
  • Increasing chemistry concentrations i.e. increasing the concentrations of the mixture of the chemical substances (or solution) used
  • throughput requirements is not a valid solution when low- ⁇ materials are exposed/partially exposed during the hardened PR removal.
  • short UV pre-treatments before the wet chemistry treatment may enable the use of diluted or less aggressive chemistries (or solutions) for both SW and batch wet strip.
  • wet chemistry treatment refers to a treatment (or processing, or method) using a mixture of chemical substances (or solution) in the liquid phase.
  • the aqueous-based chemistries to remove hardened photoresist are more environmental friendly.
  • solubilizing polymers in water requires a higher degree of polymer degradation compared to organic solvents.
  • Using chemistries (or solutions) with higher oxidative power or higher concentrations to meet throughput requirements is not compatible with the fragile porous (low- ⁇ ) dielectric materials.
  • short UV pre-treatments before the aqueous-based chemistry treatment may enable the use of aqueous chemistries (or aqueous solutions) for both SW and batch wet strip.
  • organic solvent-based chemistries refers to (the use of) a mixture of chemical substances (or solution), comprising an organic solvent (or organic solvents).
  • aqueous-based chemistry refers to (the use of) an aqueous solution (or aqueous solutions).
  • aqueous solutions or aqueous solutions.
  • Described herein is a method for removing a hardened photoresist layer from a substrate comprising a low-k dielectric material preserving the characteristics of the low-k dielectric material.
  • an exemplary method 100 is depicted in FIG. 12 .
  • the method includes, at step 102 , providing a substrate comprising a hardened photoresist layer and a low- ⁇ dielectric material at least partially exposed.
  • Step 104 includes forming C ⁇ C double bonds in the hardened photoresist by exposing the hardened photoresist to UV radiation having a wavelength between 200 nm and 300 nm in at least one of a vacuum or an inert atmosphere.
  • the method further includes, at step 106 , breaking the C ⁇ C double bonds by reacting the hardened photoresist with at least one of ozone (O 3 ) or a mixture of ozone (O 3 ) and oxygen (O 2 ), thereby fragmenting the hardened photoresist.
  • the method includes, at step 108 , removing the fragmented photoresist by wet processing with cleaning chemistries.
  • this method may comprise (or consist of):
  • low- ⁇ dielectric material refers to dielectric materials having a dielectric constant ⁇ lower than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide (with ⁇ SiO2 being 3.9).
  • the characteristics of the low- ⁇ dielectric material refers to, among others, the ⁇ -value, the amount of Si—CH 3 groups, and/or the Young's modulus of the porous dielectric material under consideration.
  • preserving the characteristics of the low- ⁇ dielectric material refers to preserving the ⁇ -value of the porous dielectric material (i.e. ⁇ -value integrity) upon photoresist removal, more particularly, preserving, among others, the ⁇ -value, the amount of Si—CH 3 groups, and/or the Young's modulus of the porous dielectric material under consideration upon photoresist removal (or otherwise said, no loss in low- ⁇ dielectric material, or no chemical or structural damage of the exposed low- ⁇ materials occurs upon photoresist removal).
  • exposed material refers to that part of the material (or layers) allowed to be irradiated with UV wavelengths (or otherwise said, that part of material (or layers) not covered with another material (or layer) on top of it).
  • exposing the hardened photoresist to UV radiation refers to irradiating the hardened photoresist with UV wavelengths.
  • cleaning chemistries refers to the mixture of chemical substances (or solution) used in the cleaning step.
  • said wet processing comprises a cleaning step.
  • said cleaning step comprises removing the fragmented photoresist using a protic solvent.
  • said cleaning step comprises removing the fragmented photoresist using an aqueous solution, or an organic solvent.
  • said aqueous solution consists of (de-ionized) water.
  • the organic solvent can be selected from a group comprising pyrrolidone (e.g., n-methyl pyrrolidone NMP), carbonates (e.g., propylene carbonate, PC), sulfoxides, acetates, alcohol-amines, organic alcohols and esters, or mixtures thereof.
  • pyrrolidone e.g., n-methyl pyrrolidone NMP
  • carbonates e.g., propylene carbonate, PC
  • sulfoxides e.g., acetates, alcohol-amines, organic alcohols and esters, or mixtures thereof.
  • said organic solvent comprises (or consists of) halogenated solvents.
  • said halogenated solvents comprise (or consist of) fluorinated solvents.
  • said wet processing further comprises performing a rinsing step after having performed said cleaning step.
  • the duration of said rinsing step is in the range between (about) 30 seconds and (about) 10 minutes.
  • said rinsing step comprises rinsing the substrate using (de-ionized) water (DIW), or an organic solvent. More particularly, said organic solvent comprises (or consists of) isopropylalcohol, or propylene carbonate (PC).
  • DIW de-ionized water
  • organic solvent comprises (or consists of) isopropylalcohol, or propylene carbonate (PC).
  • a drying step is performed.
  • said drying step can be a spin drying or a Marangoni drying performed using N 2 .
  • a substrate may be a semiconductor material comprising silicon, silicon on insulator (SOI), silicon-germanium, germanium and/or III-V semiconductor compounds or combinations thereof.
  • the substrate is a silicon wafer.
  • a pristine photoresist is an as-deposited (as coated) photoresist material, before being subjected to any process of irradiation, plasma etch or ion implantation.
  • a photoresist layer as referred to in the current application can be a single layer or a stack of multiple layers, including at least one photosensitive layer (the actual photoresist material) and different antireflective coating layers (ARC), such as top antireflective coating (TARC) layers or bottom anti reflective coating (BARC) layers.
  • ARC antireflective coating layers
  • a “hardened photoresist material (or layer)” refers to a photoresist material (or layer) being subjected to any process of irradiation, more particularly, said hardened photoresist material (or layer) consists of a plasma etched photoresist material (or layer), a plasma modified photoresist material (or layer), or an ion-implanted photoresist material (or layer).
  • Said hardened photoresist material can be used as mask during plasma etch and, respectively, ion implantation processes in front-end-of-line (FEOL) or back-end-of-line (BEOL) applications.
  • FEOL front-end-of-line
  • BEOL back-end-of-line
  • a hardened photoresist may consist of a plasma etched photoresist, a plasma modified photoresist or an ion implanted photoresist used as mask during plasma etch and, respectively, ion implantation processes in semiconductor manufacturing, both front-end-of-line (FEOL) or back-end-of-line (BEOL) applications.
  • FEOL front-end-of-line
  • BEOL back-end-of-line
  • a hardened photoresist layer may comprise a crust at the photoresist surface caused by the etch plasma or by the ion implantation process. Underneath the crust an intermediate region/layer may exist wherein the photoresist properties are only partially modified. Underneath the partially modified photoresist a region/layer of bulk photoresist having still the initial properties may be present. There are no clear boundaries between the different regions/layers in the hardened photoresist. Depending on the pattern density, the initial thickness of the pristine photoresist and the plasma/ion implantation process parameters, the different regions/layers in a hardened photoresist may coexist.
  • the hardened photoresist layer is overlying and in contact with the low- ⁇ dielectric material.
  • the hardened photoresist layer is overlying and in contact with a metal hard mask (MHM) layer.
  • MHM layer may comprise at least a metal layer (e.g. TiN, TaN) which is overlying and in contact with the low- ⁇ dielectric material.
  • the low- ⁇ dielectric material is only partially exposed during the removal process.
  • C ⁇ C carbon-carbon double bonds
  • the cleaning chemistries comprise preferably a protic solvent.
  • the cleaning chemistries are either aqueous-based chemistries or organic solvent-based chemistries.
  • Fracturing the hardened photoresist by attacking the carbon-carbon double bonds (C ⁇ C) with an oxidizer allows the solubilization of the hardened photoresist in aqueous-based chemistries or organic solvent-based chemistries widely used in semiconductor manufacturing. Finding suitable aqueous-based chemistries or organic solvent-based chemistries for use herein, is well within the practice of those skilled in the art.
  • An inert atmosphere can comprise N 2 or any inert (or noble) gas (e.g. He, Ar) or mixtures thereof.
  • An ozone generator typically provides a mixture of ozone (gas) and oxygen (gas).
  • an ozone generator provides ozone (gas), or a mixture of ozone and oxygen gas, starting from oxygen (gas).
  • breaking the formed C ⁇ C double bonds and removing the fragmented photoresist are performed substantially simultaneously by wet processing in cleaning chemistries comprising ozone (O 3 ).
  • the UV radiation has a wavelength between (about) 260 nm and (about) 300 nm, which enables the simultaneous exposure of the hardened photoresist to UV and ozone (and/or oxygen), without ozone (and/or oxygen) decomposition.
  • forming C ⁇ C double bonds in the hardened photoresist and breaking the formed C ⁇ C double bonds can be performed substantially simultaneously by supplying oxygen, or ozone or a mixture of ozone and oxygen (supplied e.g. from an ozone generator), while exposing the hardened photoresist to UV radiation.
  • Method 200 includes, at step 202 , providing a substrate comprising a hardened photoresist layer and a low- ⁇ dielectric material at least partially exposed.
  • the method further includes, at step 204 , pre-treating the hardened photoresist with UV radiation having a wavelength between 200 nm and 300 nm in at least one of a vacuum or an inert atmosphere.
  • the method still further includes, at step 206 , removing the pre-treated hardened photoresist by wet processing with cleaning chemistries comprising ozone.
  • this method comprises:
  • pre-treating refers to exposing the hardened photoresist to UV radiation (or irradiating the hardened photoresist with UV wavelengths).
  • Method 300 includes, at step 302 , providing a substrate comprising a hardened photoresist layer and a low- ⁇ dielectric material at least partially exposed.
  • the method further includes, at step 304 , pre-treating the hardened photoresist with UV radiation having a wavelength between 260 nm and 300 nm in the presence of at least one of O 2 , ozone (O 3 ), or a mixture of O 2 and O 3 .
  • the method still further includes, at step 306 , removing the pre-treated hardened photoresist by wet processing in cleaning chemistries.
  • this method comprises:
  • the cleaning chemistries comprise (or consist of) aqueous(-based) solutions.
  • the aqueous(-based) solutions are more environmental friendly (when compared to organic solvents used in the art).
  • An additional advantage is that aqueous(-based) solutions can be chosen to remove both the bottom antireflective coating (BARC) underlying the hardened photoresist layer and the hardened photoresist in the same process, shortening in this way the manufacturing process.
  • BARC bottom antireflective coating
  • the choice of the aqueous(-based) solution is not limited by the compatibility with ozone.
  • the aqueous(-based) solutions consist of de-ionized (DI) water.
  • the cleaning chemistries comprise (or consist of) organic solvents or mixtures thereof.
  • the organic solvents are preferably halogenated solvents and, more preferably, fluorinated solvents.
  • the organic solvents can be selected from a group comprising pyrrolidone (e.g., n-methyl pyrrolidone NMP), carbonates (e.g., propylene carbonate, PC), sulfoxides, acetates, alcohol-amines, organic alcohols and esters.
  • the cleaning chemistries further comprise chemical additives such as surfactants, corrosion inhibitors (such as e.g. acetic acid or glycolic acid), chelating agents or any other additives of common use in the semiconductor manufacturing.
  • chemical additives such as surfactants, corrosion inhibitors (such as e.g. acetic acid or glycolic acid), chelating agents or any other additives of common use in the semiconductor manufacturing.
  • an UV pre-treatment is applied first to the hardened photoresist.
  • the UV irradiation leads to the formation of carbon-carbon double bonds (C ⁇ C) in the backbone of the cross-linked photoresist polymer chains, which are reactive sites for bond breaking by an oxidizer.
  • an oxidizer e.g., ozone O 3 , or a mixture of O 2 and O 3 ) supplied in the same process or in a subsequent process breaks (or fragments or fractures) the polymer network into smaller pieces and renders it soluble in a wet chemistry (or solution).
  • the effect of the UV radiation on the hardened photoresist material depends on the UV wavelength and hence on the UV source.
  • PMMA polymethyl methacrylate
  • the ratio between C—C cleavage and C ⁇ C formation increases as the UV wavelength decreases.
  • the duration of the UV irradiation depends on the power of the UV lamp used. Finding a suitable combination of power of the UV lamp used and the duration of theUV exposure (or the UV exposure time) for use in a method according to the present invention is well within the practice of those skilled in the art.
  • the duration of the UV irradiation is less than (about) 10 minutes (600 seconds), more preferably less than (about) 5 minutes (300 seconds), even more preferably less than (about) 2 minutes (120 seconds), yet more preferably less than (about) 1 minute (60 seconds).
  • the duration of the UV irradiation is comprised between (about) 1 second to (about) 600 seconds, more preferably between (about) 30 seconds to (about) 300 seconds, even more preferably between (about) 30 seconds to (about) 120 seconds, yet more preferably between (about) 60 seconds to (about) 120 seconds, most preferably (about) 120 seconds.
  • the UV treatments at shorter wavelengths tend to cause cross-linking of the photoresist. Therefore for generation of C ⁇ C bond it is preferable to perform the UV treatment at high wavelengths (e.g., wavelengths between (about) 200 nm and (about) 300 nm).
  • high wavelengths e.g., wavelengths between (about) 200 nm and (about) 300 nm.
  • the degree of damage (expressed mostly in an increase of the ⁇ -value) of the low- ⁇ dielectrics by UV radiation increases as the wavelength decreases.
  • a porous material or a low- ⁇ dielectric material readily degrades upon being irradiated by an UV source.
  • the degradation of low- ⁇ dielectrics including, for example, loss of Si—CH 3 groups, increase of Young's modulus and increase in ⁇ -value is more pronounced for wavelengths below (about) 200 nm.
  • UV sources like e.g. UV excimer lamps, broadband UV lamps (e.g., a mercury vapor lamp), noble gas plasmas (e.g., He, Ar).
  • broadband UV lamps e.g., a mercury vapor lamp
  • noble gas plasmas e.g., He, Ar.
  • UV radiation can lead to the formation of oxygen radicals and ozone from O 2 (e.g., at 185 nm) and dissociate ozone (O 3 ) to form oxygen radicals at 254 nm.
  • O 2 e.g., at 185 nm
  • O 3 dissociate ozone
  • the photoresist material to be removed is a hardened 193-nm DUV photoresist, which comprises poly(meth) acrylate polymers (i.e. polyacrylate, polymethacrylate, or acrylate and methacrylate co-polymers).
  • poly(meth) acrylate polymers i.e. polyacrylate, polymethacrylate, or acrylate and methacrylate co-polymers.
  • other photoresist polymer systems can be used as well.
  • the wavelength of the UV pre-treatment can be adjusted according to the specific photoresist to be removed.
  • the wavelength can be selected upon analyzing the absorption spectra of the photoresist polymer.
  • the wavelength of the UV radiation used for the pre-treatment is between 200 nm and 300 nm, in an example preferably between 222 nm and 283 nm (e.g. both wavelengths from excimer lamps, or wavelengths from the single-band low pressure mercury lamp (254 nm)).
  • the substrates are kept in vacuum or an inert gas such as N 2 .
  • the wet processing according to preferred embodiments can be performed by immersing the substrates in a bath, or by spraying a solution onto the substrate (wafer), or in the controlled boundary layer mode.
  • spraying is performed in a chamber filled with a gas containing O 3 , or O 3 is bubbled through a recipient containing either water or an organic solvent (said water or organic solvent condensing, and O 3 dissolving in said water or organic solvent) that will condense on the substrate.
  • the corresponding wet processing is preferably performed by immersing the substrates in a bath, or by spraying the cleaning chemistries onto the substrate.
  • the wet processing is preferably performed according to the controlled boundary layer mode. In this way only a thin liquid layer is formed at the substrate surface providing faster O 3 transport from the gas phase through the liquid for reaction at the substrate surface.
  • the cleaning solution is water
  • a temperature as high as 90° C. can be applied.
  • additional rinsing using an organic solvent e.g., isopropylalcohol, propylene carbonate
  • an organic solvent e.g., isopropylalcohol, propylene carbonate
  • the temperature may need to be adjusted depending on the flash point of the organic solvent.
  • ozonated chemistry refers to the mixture of chemical substances (or solution) used in the cleaning step, comprising ozone.
  • the duration of the O 3 exposure depends on the amount of O 3 provided (or O 3 concentration used) during that exposure step.
  • the amount of O 3 provided is comprised in the range of (about) 30 ppm to (about) 300 ppm.
  • the duration of the O 3 exposure (or the O 3 exposure time, or the contact time with O 3 ) is less than 2 minutes, more preferably less than 1 minute.
  • the duration of the exposure to (or contact time with) cleaning chemistries comprising ozone is preferably less than (about) 10 minutes (600 seconds), more preferably less than (about) 5 minutes (300 seconds), even more preferably less than (about) 2 minutes (120 seconds), yet more preferably less than (about) 1 minute (60 seconds).
  • the duration of the exposure to (or contact time with) cleaning chemistries comprising ozone is comprised between (about) 1 second to (about) 600 seconds, more preferably between (about) 30 seconds to (about) 300 seconds, even more preferably between (about) 30 seconds to (about) 120 seconds, yet more preferably between (about) 60 seconds to (about) 120 seconds, most preferably (about) 120 seconds.
  • additional chemicals can be added to the ozonated or non-ozonated chemistries to improve the dissolution of the inorganic residues present on the substrate (e.g., back-sputtered Si from low- ⁇ dielectric or metals from metal hard-masks) or of the bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC).
  • additional chemicals for use herein will be easily identified by those skilled in the art.
  • Exemplary additional chemistries include, but are not limited to, surfactants, corrosion inhibitors (e.g. organic acids such as e.g. acetic acid, glycolic acid), chelating agents, or any mixtures thereof.
  • the method described herein discloses selecting the wavelength of the UV lamp such as to avoid degradation of the low- ⁇ dielectric material.
  • the UV lamp wavelength is selected to avoid absorption by O 2 and dissociation of O 3 . Consequently, wavelengths above 260 nm and preferably as close as possible to 300 nm are chosen. At these wavelengths, the atmosphere in the UV tool could contain O 2 (e.g., from air or from air leak) since no dissociation of O 2 is expected.
  • the method described herein may further comprise additional H 2 O or organic solvent rinsing after removing the fragmented photoresist.
  • said organic solvent rinsing is performed using isopropylalcohol, or propylene carbonate.
  • the photoresist was poly(meth)-acrylate-based resin (i.e. based on polyacrylate or polymethacrylate or acrylate/methacrylate copolymers) for 193-nm DUV lithography, with lactone and adamantane as side-chain groups.
  • a photoresist layer of about 150 nm thick was coated onto a blanket Si substrate or on a single damascene structure of BARC/TiN hard mask/low- ⁇ dielectric/bottom hard mask (etch stop layer)/Si stack as shown in FIG. 1 .
  • the plasma etch consisted of 3 different steps: (a) 5 mTorr/HBr/60s, (b) 8 mTorr/Cl 2 /O 2 /20s, and (c) 5 mTorr/Cl 2 /HBr/16s, performed in a dual-frequency dielectric etch chamber at room temperature.
  • samples both blanket and patterned were exposed to UV from the dual-band low pressure mercury lamp for different exposure times, while photoresist removal (on blanket and patterned structures) was carried out in a beaker set-up using pure N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) at 60° C. for a contact time of 2 min. After solvent immersion, the samples were rinsed with de-ionized water for 1 min and dried with N 2 .
  • NMP N-methyl pyrrolidone
  • FTIR Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
  • spectroscopic ellipsometry were used to characterize the films before and after modification by UV irradiation and subsequent wet clean.
  • the dielectric constant of blanket low- ⁇ films was determined by Hg-probe.
  • SEM scanning electron microscopy
  • FIG. 4 summarizes the formation of C ⁇ C bonds that was monitored with FTIR peak area ratio of band at 1600-1650 cm ⁇ 1 (C ⁇ C+OH) and band at 3200-3600 cm ⁇ 1 (OH only), i.e. the change in the (OH+C ⁇ C)/OH ratio, as a function of the UV treatment time for both pristine and plasma-treated (i.e. hardened) photoresist films.
  • concentration of C ⁇ C bonds clearly increases as a function of treatment time.
  • the thickness of the photoresist layer was found to decrease linearly as a function of UV exposure time within the range of 2-10 min, as shown in FIG. 5 .
  • the FTIR spectra obtained from the plasma-treated (i.e. hardened) photoresist showed similar results as already observed for the dual wavelength source, i.e. significant decrease of the lactone intensity, but with very little change for the peak attributed to C ⁇ C and OH group ( ⁇ 1620 cm ⁇ 1 , figure not shown).
  • the effect of the UV treatment on the low-k material can vary depending on the atmosphere during the UV treatment and the UV wavelength.
  • the degradation (increase) of the k-value of the porous low-k dielectric is more pronounced for photons with wavelength below 200 nm.
  • no significant change in ⁇ -value was measured by the mercury probe technique ( ⁇ 0.1). Also no significant changes were observed in film thickness (by ellipsometry) and in structure or composition (by FTIR).
  • samples both blanket and patterned were exposed to UV from the low pressure mercury lamp for different times, while photoresist removal was carried out in a beaker set-up using propylene carbonate (PC) with dissolved ozone at 60° C. for different contact times.
  • PC propylene carbonate
  • the reference sample (0) has been subjected only to plasma etch process.
  • the UV pre-treatment was performed with a dual wavelength source (184.9 nm and 253.7 nm) in N 2 atmosphere for 2 min on samples 5-8.
  • the wet processing was performed on all the samples except the reference, with propylene carbonate (PC) at 60° C. for 1, 5 and 10 min respectively, in the presence and in the absence of O 3 (30 ppm in 2.0 L/min O 2 bubbling through the PC solution).
  • PC propylene carbonate
  • the thickness of the photoresist remaining on the substrate after the removal process was measured by ellipsometry. As shown in FIG. 8 , incomplete removal is observed for all the samples which have not been pre-treated with UV radiation, except for sample 4 which has been subjected only to PC for 10 minutes. Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that a film delamination (lift-off) process might be responsible for this specific case. It is worthy to mention that wet treatment with solvent alone, even with long contact times, does not work for the patterned samples, as it will be shown further. All the samples pre-treated with UV for 2 min show complete removal of the hardened photoresist. The removal is complete even after 1 min of wet processing with ozonated (30 ppm) propylene carbonate.
  • different samples containing patterned hardened photoresist were subjected to a photoresist removal process according to an embodiment.
  • the hardened photoresist is a photoresist that has been subjected to plasma etch as described elsewhere in the specifications.
  • patterned samples with a single damascene structure have been subjected to an UV pre-treatment followed by either a short wet processing with ozonated propylene carbonate (30 ppm O 3 , 1 min) or a long wet processing with only propylene carbonate (10 min).
  • the UV pre-treatment was performed with a dual wavelength source (184.9 nm and 253.7 nm) in N 2 atmosphere for 2 min. In both cases, the hardened photoresist on the top of the patterned structures was removed, while residues remained in the trenches.
  • FIG. 9 summarizes the change in the (OH+C ⁇ C)/OH ratio as a function of the UV treatment time for plasma-treated (i.e. hardened) photoresist films.
  • the PR film irradiated by 222 and 283 nm dual wavelength are more efficient in the generation of C ⁇ C bonds.
  • the highest concentration of C ⁇ C bonds was reached for 222 nm and 283 nm.
  • Samples were immersed in water at 60° C. for 1 or 2 min with O 2 /O 3 bubbling through the water.
  • the ozonated DI water process was done in a home-built lab scale reactor consisting of a thermostated vessel and a diffuser connected to a generator with an O 2 -flow of 2.0 L/min and 30 or 200 ppm O 3 in gas supply. Samples were rinsed either in water or in PC for 1 min at 60° C. before a water rinse at RT.
  • Picture (A) of FIG. 10 shows the structure after plasma etch, with patterned TiN MHM covered by BARC and photoresist.
  • Pictures (B) and (C) of FIG. 10 show the same structure after 2 min UV exposure and 1 min PC rinse, respectively. No significant removal resulted from the UV exposure alone and only partial removal resulted from the rinse alone. Little improvement in removal resulted from combining UV irradiation and solvent rinse (Picture D).
  • Picture (E) of FIG. 10 shows the same structure after 2 min O 3 /H 2 O strip at 60° C.
  • FIG. 10 shows the same structure after 2 min UV exposure, followed by 2 min O 3 /H 2 O strip at 60° C. and a 1 min propylene carbonate (PC) rinse followed by a DIW rinse. Only with this process sequence combining UV exposure and O 3 /H 2 O strip a complete PR/BARC removal was achieved.
  • UV irradiation by photons with wavelength band centered at 254 nm led to substantial changes in FTIR spectra of blanket plasma-treated photoresist films as shown in FIG. 11 .
  • the C ⁇ O absorption bands attributed to the lactone group (1765 cm ⁇ 1 ) and ester function (1725 cm ⁇ 1 ) increased in intensity as function of UV time. This was very different compared to other wavelengths (222 and 283 nm).
  • the band attributed to alkane signals (2915 cm ⁇ 1 ) decreased in intensity as function of UV time.
  • Samples were immersed in HFE at room temperature (about 20° C.) for 2 or 5 min with O 2 /O 3 bubbling through the solvent.
  • the ozonated HFE process was performed in a home-built lab scale reactor consisting of a thermostated vessel and a diffuser connected to a generator with an O 2 -flow of 2.0 L/min and 30 or 200 ppm O 3 in gas supply. Samples were rinsed either in water or in PC for 1 min at 60° C. before a water rinse at RT.
  • PR removal efficiency was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Only partial PR removal was obtained in conditions using only a water rinse (about 30% decrease in PR thickness). Nearly complete PR removal was obtained in following conditions using a PC rinse: 2 min UV step followed by a 2 min O 3 /HFE at 30 ppm or 200 ppm O 3 or 2 min UV step followed by a 5 min O 3 /HFE at 200 ppm O 3 or 5 min UV step followed by a 2 min O 3 /HFE at 30 ppm O 3 (some residues still left on top of and in-between TiN MHM patterns).
  • SEM scanning electron microscopy

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US10490426B2 (en) 2014-08-26 2019-11-26 Lam Research Ag Method and apparatus for processing wafer-shaped articles
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US9947597B2 (en) 2016-03-31 2018-04-17 Tokyo Electron Limited Defectivity metrology during DSA patterning
US10276373B2 (en) 2016-10-05 2019-04-30 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device
US12051590B2 (en) 2021-08-02 2024-07-30 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Method of forming a pattern

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